Christian von Zweybrücken
Christian Freiherr von Zweybrücken (born November 20, 1752 , † October 25, 1817 in Munich ), also Christian de Deux-Ponts , was initially a French, then a Prussian and later a Bavarian officer , most recently a general of the infantry .
Life
Zweybrücken was the son of Duke Christian IV (Pfalz-Zweibrücken) from his morganatic marriage to Maria Anna Camasse, who was raised to Countess von Forbach .
He was initially called Count von Forbach and entered the royal French Régiment de Royal Deux-Ponts on April 20, 1768 as a sous-lieutenant . He was promoted there on April 16, 1771 to Capitaine , on July 3, 1772 to Lieutenant Colonel and on March 6, 1775 to Colonel . According to a document issued by Duke Christian IV on March 30, 1775, he received the hereditary addition "von Zweybrücken". With the decree of King Louis XVI. he was given the title of Marquis .
In 1777 Zweybrücken was promoted to Maréchal de camp , the following year he became commandant of the Royal Deux Ponts regiment . The regiment was embarked for America on April 4, 1780. In the auxiliary corps of General Rochambeau , Christian von Zweybrücken and his brother Wilhelm von Zweybrücken (1754–1807) fought with their regiment on the side of the USA in the American War of Independence in 1781 ; especially in the battle of Yorktown . From this battle there is the large painting "Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown" by John Trumbull in the Capitol in Washington, DC . It shows Christian von Zweybrücken as the first person on the left edge of the picture in a group of French officers. He was then sent back to France from New York in January 1783 with the frigate Le Brave . The ship was attacked on the way back by a ship under the later Admiral Nelson .
In 1784 he was garrisoned in Landau, in 1786 he became Brigadier des armes du roi and on March 10, 1786 he became Marechal de camp and Colonel Propriétaire . After the French Revolution, the regiment was disbanded on July 21, 1791. He resigned from French military service, renounced the title of marquis and received the title of "Baron von Zweybrücken" from Count Palatine Karl II August on January 31, 1792 .
Zweybrücken entered Prussian service on January 1, 1792, was employed as a major general with a patent and took part in the campaigns against France from 1794 to 1797 . On June 6, 1796 he received the Order of the Red Eagle .
On June 20, 1799, he was given permission to serve in the Bavarian electorate . On July 24, 1799, he was appointed lieutenant general à la suite of the infantry. On September 10, 1799 he was commissioned to take over the organization and command of the Landsturm . For this he was promoted to real lieutenant general on October 30, 1799 and on February 14, 1800 he was promoted to provincial commander.
On March 18, 1800, Zweybrücken took over the supreme command of the 12,000-strong subsidiary corps composed of the “ Deroy ” and “ Wrede ” brigades and fought first under Feldzeugmeister Kray , then under Archduke Johann in the campaign against France as an English subsidiary force. He proved himself in the battles at Möskirch (May 5, 1800) and Biberach (May 15, 1800), for which the British king expressed his greatest satisfaction.
After the Battle of Hohenlinden on December 3, 1800, he first led the remnants of his corps to the Salzburg region, after the Steyr armistice (December 25, 1800) via Passau to Cham (Upper Palatinate) . On March 24, 1801, he received the Military Medal for his achievements .
With army orders of March 1, 1806, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Military Max Joseph Order .
In 1808 Zweybrücken was appointed to the Privy Council. On January 8, 1811, he received his promotion to general of the infantry. He died in Munich on October 25, 1817.
progeny
He was married to Adelaide-Françoise de Béthune-Pologne (1761-1823) from the House of Béthune , whom he had married in 1783 in Versailles. The couple had the following children:
- Maria Amalia Charlotte Auguste (born September 18, 1784 - † January 9, 1786 in Forbach)
- Maria Amalia Charlotte Franziska Auguste (born June 19, 1786; † May 22, 1832 in Forbach) ⚭ since 1806 Karl Ernst von Gravenreuth (1771–1826)
- Kasimira Maria Louise Antoinette (December 20, 1787 - March 26, 1846)
- ⚭ 1808 Karl Christian Gustav Friedrich, Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein (* October 31, 1773; † September 7, 1812), killed as a Bavarian colonel in the Battle of Borodino , by a cannonball that tore his shoulder off. The Zweibrücken officer Carl von Mannlich got him out of the fray and stood by him as he died.
- ⚭ 1814 Antonius von Padua, Count von Rechberg-Rothenlöwen (1776–1837)
literature
- Adalbert von Bayern : The Duke and the Dancer - The Strange Story of Christian IV of Pfalz-Zweibrücken and his family. Palatinate publishing house, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse 1966.
- Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 2, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1937], DNB 367632772 , pp. 349-350, no. 828.
- Baptist Schrettinger (Order Archivist): The Royal Bavarian Military Max Joseph Order and its members. Munich 1882.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Adalbert von Bayern : The Duke and the Dancer - The Strange Story of Christian IV. Of Pfalz-Zweibrücken and his family , Palatinate Publishing House , Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, 1966, plate after page 144
- ^ Johann Christian von Mannlich : Rococo and Revolution. (Memories), ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1913, p. 545.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zweybrücken, Christian von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Forbach, Christian Graf von; Forbach, Christian Graf von; Deux-Ponts, Christian Marquis de; Zweibrücken, Christian Freiherr von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French, then Prussian and later Bavarian officer, finally General of the Infantry |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 20, 1752 |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 25, 1817 |
| Place of death | Munich |